Mark 12:35 - Meaning and Application

Here, Christ shows the people how weak and incomplete the scribes were in their teaching, and how unable they were to solve the hard questions in the Old Testament Scriptures, which they claimed to explain. He gives one example here, though Matthew tells it more fully. Christ was teaching in the temple. Many things he said were not written down, but this one is mentioned because it should stir us to seek Christ and ask him for understanding. No one can know him rightly except from him. That knowledge will not come from the scribes, because they will soon come to a dead end.

The scribes taught the people that the Messiah was to be the Son of David (Mark 12:35), and that was true. He was not only to come from David’s line, but also to sit on David’s throne (Luke 1:32). “The Lord will give him the throne of his father David.” Scripture said this often, but the people had come to treat it as only the scribes’ teaching. Yet the truths of God should be taken from our Bibles more than from our ministers, because the Bible is the original source. Waters are sweetest when drawn straight from the spring.

But the scribes could not explain how David, speaking by the Spirit of prophecy, could also call the Messiah his Lord, as he does in Psalm 110:1. They taught what would honor their nation, that the Messiah would come from their royal family. But they did not carefully teach what would honor the Messiah himself, that he would be the Son of God, and therefore David’s Lord. In this way they held the truth in an unfair way, and they were partial in the gospel, just as they were in the law of the Old Testament.

They could say and prove that Christ would be David’s son, but if someone asked, “How then does David himself call him Lord?” they did not know how to answer. Those are unfit to sit in Moses’ seat, that is, to teach God’s law, if they can preach the truth but cannot defend it when challenged, or answer those who oppose it.

This embarrassed the scribes, and no doubt made them more angry with Christ. But the common people heard him gladly (Mark 12:37). What he preached was striking and moving, and though it exposed the scribes, it also taught the people, who had never heard preaching like this before. He likely had something especially powerful and attractive in his voice and manner of speaking, which won the crowd’s attention. Yet we do not read that many of them truly believed and followed him. He was to them like a beautiful song, as Ezekiel was to his hearers (Ezekiel 33:32). Some who heard gladly later cried, “Crucify him,” just as Herod heard John the Baptist gladly and then cut off his head.

Jesus also warned the people not to let the scribes mislead them, or be shaped by their pride and false holiness. He said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes” (Mark 12:38). They must guard against taking in the scribes’ ideas, or the public praise people gave them. The fuller charge against them appears in Matthew 23, but here it is shortened.

They wanted to look very important, so they wore long robes and walked about in them like princes, judges, or wealthy men. Wearing such clothes was not sinful in itself, but loving them, taking pride in them, and using them to demand respect was the fruit of pride. Christ wanted his disciples to be ready for service, with their garments gathered up.

They also wanted to look very godly, so they made long prayers, as if they were close friends with heaven and had much business there. They made sure people knew they prayed, and knew they prayed at length. Some think this means they prayed not only for themselves but also for others, in a very careful and detailed way. Yet they did this as a show, so people would think they loved prayer, both for God’s glory and for their neighbors’ good.

They also used religion to promote themselves. They loved applause and were eager for it. They liked greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at feasts. These things fed their vanity. If people gave them these honors, they thought it showed how much they were valued by those who knew them, and it won them respect from those who did not know them.

They also used religion to enrich themselves. They devoured widows’ houses, meaning they somehow took control of widows’ property and estates, likely by dishonest means. To hide their greed, they wore the mask of piety. They wanted not to seem as bad as the worst people, but as good as the best. Fraud and oppression become even worse when covered by long prayers. Still, prayer itself, even long prayer, should not be blamed when it is offered with humility and sincerity, just because some have abused it this way.

But when sin is hidden under a show of religion, it becomes twice guilty, and its judgment will be heavier. These people will receive greater condemnation, greater than those who live without prayer, and greater than the punishment they would have faced for wronging poor widows if they had not tried to cover it with religion. The judgment of hypocrites is, above all others, the most severe.